Notes

↑ 1.01.11.21.31.41.5/p/, /t/, /k/ are unaspirated, as in the Romance languages, or as in English spy, sty, sky. In final position, they are unreleased[p̚, t̪̚, ʔ̚], with final k being a glottal stop. /b, d/ are also unreleased, and therefore devoiced, [p̚, t̚]. There is no liaison: they remain unreleased even when followed by a vowel, as in kulit ubi "potato skins", though they are pronounced as a normal medial consonant when followed by a suffix.

↑ 2.02.1The dental fricatives [θ, ð] are found solely in Arabic loanwords, but the writing is not distinguished from the Arabic loanwords containing the [s, z] sounds and these sounds must be learned separately by the speakers.

↑ 3.03.13.23.33.4The fricatives [f, z, ʃ, x] are found in loanwords only. Some speakers pronounce orthographic ‹v› in loanwords as [v]; otherwise it is [f]. The fricative [z] can also be an allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants.

↑ 4.04.14.2The glottal stop [ʔ] is an allophone of /k/ and /ɡ/ in the coda: baik, bapak. It is also used between identical vowels in hiatus. Only a few words have this sound in the middle, e.g. bakso (meatballs). It may be represented by an apostrophe in Arabic derived words such as Al Qur'an.

↑In traditional Malay areas, the rhotic consonant/r/ is realized as a velar or uvular fricative, [ɣ] or [ʁ], and elided word-finally. Elsewhere, including in Standard Indonesian, it is an alveolar tap [ɾ] or trill [r]. Its position relative to schwa is ambiguous: kertas "paper" may be pronounced [krəˈtas] or [kərəˈtas].

↑The nasal consonants/m, n, ŋ, ɲ/nasalize following vowels, and may nasalize a subsequent vowel if the intervening consonant is /h, j, w, ʔ/.

↑ 9.09.19.29.3[e, o] are allophones of /i, u/ in native words, but have become established as distinct phonemes in English and Javanese loan words. The diphthongs /ai, au/, which only occur in open syllables, are often merged into [e, o], respectively, especially in Java.

↑The Malay/Indonesian /e/ doesn't quite line up with any English vowel, though the nearest equivalents are the vowel of clay (for most English dialects) and the vowel of get. The Malay/Indonesian vowel is usually articulated at a point between the two.

↑The Malay /o/ doesn't quite line up with any English vowel, though the nearest equivalents are the vowel of sole (for most English dialects) and the vowel of raw. The Malay/Indonesian vowel is usually articulated at a point between the two.

↑Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable. If that syllable contains a schwa [ə], stress shifts to the antepenult if there is one, and to the final syllable if there is not. Some suffixes are ignored for stress placement.